JP5892384B2 - Female terminal - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a female terminal having a structure for holding a tab of a male terminal between an emboss and an elastic contact piece.

  Conventionally, as a female terminal used in an electrical system such as an automobile, an opening is provided between an embossing and an elastic contact piece that are provided with a box-shaped main body having an opening at the front end and are opposed to each other inside the main body. 2. Description of the Related Art There are known ones that are designed to be electrically connected to a male terminal by sandwiching a tab-like tab of a male terminal inserted from a portion. For example, those described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-123935 (Patent Document 1).

  By the way, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the conventional female terminal can be bent and deformed in the opposing direction of the side wall by folding the elastic contact piece inward from one front end of the pair of opposing side walls constituting the main body. On the other hand, an embossing is formed on the other inner surface of the pair of side walls so as to project, and a contact portion provided on the elastic contact piece and the embossing are arranged to face each other with a gap therebetween.

  However, in the configuration in which the tab of the male terminal is sandwiched between the contact portion of the elastic contact piece and the emboss, it is necessary to set the contact pressure for the tab of the male terminal with only one elastic contact piece. Therefore, there is a problem that the spring force of the elastic contact piece has to be increased, and the insertion force of the male terminal is increased. In contrast, by adopting an elastic contact piece instead of embossing and holding the tab of the male terminal between the contact portions of the pair of elastic contact pieces, both the necessary contact pressure is secured and the insertion force is distributed. It is also possible to plan. However, in a structure in which a pair of elastic contact pieces are arranged to face each other, the female terminal cannot be increased in size and often cannot be adopted.

  Furthermore, in the configuration in which the tab of the male terminal is sandwiched between the contact portion of the elastic contact piece and the emboss, there is a problem that it is difficult to stably hold the tab of the male terminal. That is, an external force such as vehicle vibration is transmitted to the male terminal connected to the female terminal via an electric wire or the like that is caulked and fixed to the rear end side, and the tab of the male terminal is vertically or twisted (the center axis of the tab). Displacement load (twisting load) in the surrounding rotation direction) is applied. Under such circumstances, just holding the substantially central portion of the flat tab between the contact portion of the elastic contact piece and the emboss, suppresses the vertical displacement and twisting displacement of the male terminal tab. It was insufficient. As a result, there is a possibility that contact failure between the tab and the emboss or the contact portion due to excessive displacement of the tab of the male terminal, plastic deformation of the elastic contact piece, etc. may occur, and it is difficult to ensure connection stability. .

JP 2003-123935 A

  The present invention has been made in the background of the above-mentioned circumstances, and the problem to be solved is that the insertion force of the male terminal is maintained while maintaining the structure of sandwiching the tab of the male terminal between the emboss and the elastic contact piece. It is an object of the present invention to provide a female terminal having a novel structure capable of improving the dispersion of the contact and the contact stability of the male terminal with respect to a flat tab.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention made to solve the above-described problems will be described. In addition, the component employ | adopted in each aspect as described below is employable by arbitrary combinations as much as possible.

A first aspect of the present invention includes a box-shaped main body having an opening at a front end, and a contact portion of an elastic contact piece provided on one of a pair of opposing side walls constituting the main body, In the female terminal in which the flat tab of the male terminal inserted from the opening is sandwiched between the embossing provided on the other of the pair of side walls, the elastic contact piece is the one of the ones A front-side elastic contact piece and a rear-side elastic contact piece that extend inward in a cantilevered manner from folded portions provided at the front end and the rear end of the side walls, respectively, and can be bent and deformed in the opposing direction of the pair of side walls. And the front elastic contact piece is located on the rear side in the front-rear direction of the main body portion with respect to the contact portion of the rear elastic contact piece. The contact part and the rear side of the contact piece While the contact portion of the sexual contact piece, said being spaced apart from each other in the width direction of the main body portion, the front side elastic contact piece is provided a pair spaced apart in the width direction of the body portion, the rear A side elastic contact piece extends into the separation gap between the pair of front side elastic contact pieces, and the contact portion is provided at a front end portion in the extending direction of each elastic contact piece. The width dimension of a contact piece is larger than the width dimension of the said back side elastic contact piece, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to this aspect, by providing the elastic contact pieces dispersedly in the front elastic contact pieces and the rear elastic contact pieces, it is possible to disperse the pressure contact force required for the contact portion of each elastic contact piece. Thereby, in the female terminal of the type which clamps the tab of a male terminal between the contact part and embossing of an elastic contact piece, the insertion force of a male terminal can be disperse | distributed. In particular, since the position of the contact portion is shifted in the front-rear direction of the main body portion, it is possible to avoid applying a large insertion force to the tab at a time when inserting the male terminal, and to improve the insertion workability. .

  And since the contact part of a front side elastic contact piece is located in the back side of a main-body part rather than the contact part of a back side elastic contact piece, before and after extending from the front and back both sides of a side wall in the length direction of a main-body part The side elastic contact pieces extend to a position beyond each other, and the contact portions can be arranged in a cross manner. Thereby, it is possible to press and hold the tab at two points apart in the front-rear direction while sufficiently securing the extension length of the front-rear elastic contact piece. Therefore, even if a displacement load is applied to the tab of the male terminal in the vertical direction, each elastic contact piece can hold the tab stably at two points separated in the front-rear direction with sufficient spring force. . In addition, since each elastic contact piece is formed independently of each other and with a sufficient extension length, even when the tab of the male terminal is greatly displaced in the vertical direction, it flexibly follows this displacement. Occurrence of poor contact can be prevented beforehand.

  Furthermore, since the contact portions of the front-rear side elastic contact piece are separated from each other in the width direction of the main body portion, the tab can be pressed and held at two points left and right. Therefore, even when a twisting load in the twisting direction of the tab of the male terminal is applied, each elastic contact piece can hold the tab stably at two points separated from each other with sufficient spring force. The twisting displacement of the terminal tab can be advantageously prevented or reduced.

  In addition, in the present invention, since the embossing provided on the other side of the side wall is adopted, the insertion force is dispersed by the elastic contact pieces divided in the front and rear directions, and the enlargement of the female terminal itself is avoided. It can be done.

  Note that the number of the front elastic contact pieces and the rear elastic contact pieces can be arbitrarily set, and one each may be provided, or a plurality of front and rear elastic contact pieces may be provided and the respective contact portions may be formed in a dust shape. You may make it arrange | position to.

Further, in this aspect, a pair of front elastic contact pieces are provided apart from each other in the width direction of the main body, and the rear elastic contact pieces extend between them. Accordingly, the support points of the tab can be dispersed at the three points on both sides and the middle portion of the tab in the width direction, and the support points on both sides and the support portion of the intermediate portion can be largely shifted in the front-rear direction of the tab. Thereby, it is possible to more advantageously prevent the displacement of the tab in the vertical direction and the twist direction. In addition, since the contact portion of each elastic contact piece is provided at the distal end portion in the extending direction, it is possible to advantageously distribute the insertion resistance of the male terminal while ensuring a large spring force of each elastic support piece. it can. Furthermore, since the front elastic contact pieces are provided in a pair spaced apart in the width direction, the tabs inserted from the opening can be stably inserted into the main body while holding both sides from the beginning. it can.

Further, since the rear rectangular side elastic contact piece is extended enters the separation gap between the pair of front lateral side elastic contact pieces, it is achieved also size reduction of the main body.

A second aspect of the present invention is a female terminal according to the first aspect, pre SL and notch is provided at an intermediate portion of the wide flat portion to be folded inwardly curved from the front end of the body portion The pair of front elastic contact pieces are constituted by both side edges of the flat plate portion, which are divided so as to be independently displaceable by the notch portions, while being curved from the rear end of the main body portion. Notches are provided in both side portions of the wide flat plate portion folded inward, and the rear elastic contact piece is constituted by the central portion of the flat plate portion sandwiched between the cut portions. Is.

According to this aspect, since the base end portion of each of the front / rear side elastic contact pieces is configured by the wide flat plate portion, it is possible to improve the rigidity and durability of each elastic contact piece. it can.

  According to the female terminal of the present invention, by disposing the elastic contact pieces on the front elastic contact piece and the rear elastic contact piece, the pressure contact force required for the contact portion of each elastic contact piece can be dispersed. it can. Therefore, it is possible to avoid applying a large insertion force to the tab at a time when inserting the male terminal, and it is possible to improve the insertion workability. In addition, the contact portion of the front elastic contact piece and the contact portion of the rear elastic contact piece are spaced apart from each other in the width direction of the main body portion, and are positioned further on the rear side / front side across the main body portion in the front-rear direction. Therefore, even if a displacement load is applied to the tab of the male terminal in the vertical direction or twist direction, each elastic contact piece is separated in the front-rear direction / left-right direction with sufficient spring force. The tab can be held stably at the position where it will be.

It is a perspective view of the female terminal as a first embodiment of the present invention, and shows a state where an electric wire is attached. The top view of the female terminal shown in FIG. III-III sectional drawing in FIG. IV-IV sectional drawing in FIG. VV sectional drawing in FIG. The expanded view of the female terminal shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the state at the time of the male terminal insertion to the female terminal of this embodiment, Comprising: Sectional drawing equivalent to FIG. 3 ((a) in the middle of insertion, (b) at the time of completion of insertion). VIII-VIII sectional drawing in FIG.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  First, the female terminal 10 as 1st embodiment of this invention is shown by FIGS. The female terminal 10 includes a box-shaped main body portion 14 having an opening 12 at the front end, and a barrel portion 16 having a core wire crimping portion 62 that is crimped and fixed to a core wire 68 of a covered wire 64 described later. It is comprised integrally with. In addition, a flat tab 20 of the male terminal 18 can be inserted into the opening 12 of the main body 14 from the front, whereby an electrical connection between the female terminal 10 and the male terminal 18 can be achieved. ing. In the following description, “upper” means the upper side in FIG. 1, and “lower” means the lower side in FIG. Further, the front means the left side in FIG. 3, and the rear means the right side in FIG.

  More specifically, the female terminal 10 is formed using various metal materials that have conductivity and can be pressed or punched, such as brass, copper, copper alloy, aluminum, aluminum alloy, and the like. Has been. In the present embodiment, the thickness dimension of the female terminal 10 is substantially constant throughout.

  The main body portion 14 is formed in a substantially box shape, and includes a pair of side walls 22a and 22b facing each other in the vertical direction and another pair of side walls 24a and 24b facing each other in the left and right direction. .

  Of the pair of side walls 22a and 22b opposed to each other in the vertical direction, flat plate portions 26 and 28 are respectively provided at the front end and the rear end of the upper side wall 22a so as to extend forward and rearward, As shown in FIG. 3, the side wall 22 a is formed by folding back from the front end and the rear end inward of the main body 14. As shown in FIG. 4, a notch 30 is provided in the middle portion of the wide flat plate portion 26 that is bent from the front end of the side wall 22a and folded inward, and can be independently displaced by this notch 30. A pair of front side elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b is constituted by both side edge portions of the flat plate portion 26 divided into two. On the other hand, notch portions 32 are provided on both side portions of the wide flat plate portion 28 that is bent from the rear end of the side wall 22a and folded inward, and the center of the flat plate portion 28 sandwiched between the notch portions 32 is provided. The back side elastic contact piece 29 is comprised by the part. That is, the elastic contact pieces are constituted by the front elastic contact pieces 27 a and 27 b and the rear elastic contact piece 29. Accordingly, the front elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b and the rear elastic contact piece 29 extend in a cantilevered manner from the respective folded portions 34 and 36 serving as the base end portions to the inside of the main body portion 14. It is configured.

  Further, the front elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b and the rear elastic contact piece 29 protrude inward of the main body 14 from the folded portions 34 and 36 serving as the base ends, and the vertical direction of the main body 14. (Upward / downward direction in FIG. 3) Inclined and extended toward the center side, and the distal end portion in the extending direction is bent to be inclined outwardly in the up / down direction (up / down direction in FIG. 3) of the main body 14. As a result, of the front elastic contact pieces 27 a and 27 b and the rear elastic contact piece 29, the contact portions 38 a and 38 b that contact the flat tab 20 and the contact portions 38 a and 38 b that contact the flat tab 20 are the most protruding portions of the main body portion 14. 40.

  As shown in FIG. 4, from the above, the pair of front elastic contact pieces 27 a and 27 b are provided apart from each other in the width direction of the main body portion 14, while the rear elastic contact pieces 29 are the pair of front portions. The side elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b extend into the notch 30 as a separation gap, and the front elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b and the rear elastic contact piece 29 have contact portions 38a and 38b at leading ends in the extending direction. And the contact part 40 is provided.

  On the other hand, of the pair of side walls 22a and 22b facing each other in the vertical direction, an emboss 42 is provided on the side wall 22b positioned below. As shown in FIG. 5, a pair of the embosses 42 are provided apart from each other in the width direction as protrusions extending in the axial direction of the side wall 22 b that contacts the bottom plate. And it inserts from the opening part 12 of the main-body part 14 between the contact parts 38a and 38b of the front side elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b, the contact part 40 of the back side elastic contact piece 29, and a pair of embossing 42 and 42. The flat tab 20 of the male terminal 18 is sandwiched.

  The front side elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b and the rear side elastic contact piece 29 can be bent and deformed in the opposing direction of the side walls 22a and 22b (vertical direction in FIG. 3). The contact portions 38a and 38b of the front elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b and the contact portion 40 of the rear elastic contact piece 29 and the peripheral area thereof are elastically contacted with the flat tab 20 of the male terminal 18 to be inserted. It has become. As shown in FIG. 3, the opening 12 of the main body 14 is constituted by the gap between the folded portion 34 of the flat plate portion 26 and the emboss 42 on the base end side of the front elastic contact pieces 27 a and 27 b. Yes. Further, the contact portions 38 a and 38 b that face vertically and the separation distance between the contact portion 40 and the emboss 42 are set to be smaller than the plate thickness dimension of the flat tab 20 of the male terminal 18.

  In short, as is clear from FIG. 4, the front elastic contact pieces 27 a and 27 b extend rearward beyond the contact portion 40 of the rear elastic contact piece 29, so that the front elastic contact pieces 27 a and 27 b The contact portions 38 a and 38 b are located on the rear side in the front-rear direction of the main body portion 14 with respect to the contact portion 40 of the rear-side elastic contact piece 29. Similarly, when the rear elastic contact piece 29 extends forward beyond the contact portions 38a and 38b of the front elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b, the contact portion 40 of the rear elastic contact piece 29 becomes the front elastic contact. It is located on the front side in the front-rear direction of the main body part 14 relative to the contact parts 38a, 38b of the pieces 27a, 27b. Further, the contact portions 38 a and 38 b of the front elastic contact pieces 27 a and 27 b and the contact portion 40 of the rear elastic contact piece 29 are formed to be separated from each other in the width direction of the main body portion 14.

  By the way, the female terminal 10 having such a structure can be manufactured by the following method. For example, a metal flat plate is stamped into a developed shape as shown in FIG. In the developed shape shown in FIG. 6, the base end portion of the flat plate portion 26 provided to extend from the front end (left side in FIG. 6) of the side wall 22 a is the formation portion of the folded portion 34, and further extends forward. The part to be cut is divided into a pair of front-side elastic contact pieces 27 a and 27 b by the notch 30. On the other hand, the base end portion of the flat plate portion 28 provided to extend from the rear end (right side in FIG. 6) of the side wall 22a is a formation portion of the folded portion 36, and the portion extending further rearward is a cut portion. A rear elastic contact piece 29 is constituted by a central portion of the flat plate portion 28 sandwiched between the notch portions 32 and 32. The entire flat plate portions 26 and 28 are folded back in a mountain shape from the folded portions 34 and 36 toward the side wall 22a, and the front elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b and the rear elastic contact pieces 29 are extended in the extending direction. The contact portions 38a and 38b and the contact portion 40 to which an appropriate elastic force is applied are formed by bending in a reverse direction. In addition, the folding | returning part 34 which provides elastic force to the front side elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b is comprised by the same flat plate part 26, and the base end part of the front side elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b is via the folding | returning part 34. Since they are integrally connected to each other, the rigidity and durability of the front elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b are ensured. The same applies to the rear elastic contact piece 29.

  Next, both side walls 24a and 24b are bent from the side wall 22b which hits the bottom plate so as to face each other, and the side wall 22a which hits the continuous ceiling plate from the side wall 24a is bent so as to face the side wall 22b, thereby opening the front and rear ends. A box-shaped main body 14 is assembled. Here, a pair of embosses 42 and 42 extending in the front-rear direction are provided on the side wall 22b serving as a bottom plate. In addition, in order to make an understanding easy, in FIG. 6, the bending part is shown with the virtual line.

  As shown in FIG. 6, an engagement hole 52 is provided through the side edge portion 50 of the side wall 24 b, and the side edge portion 54 of the side wall 22 a is engaged with the engagement hole 52. A portion 56 is projected. After fitting the locking portion 56 into the engagement hole 52, the side edge 24 of the side wall 24b is bent until it abuts against the side wall 22a, whereby the side wall 24b and the side wall 22a are engaged and fixed. In this state, the elastic contact piece is constituted by the front elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b and the rear elastic contact piece 29 folded inward from the front end and the rear end of the side wall 22a of the main body part 14, respectively. These elastic contact pieces are formed so as to be able to bend and deform independently of each other in the opposing direction of the pair of side walls 22a and 22b. Further, the contact portions 38a, 38b and the contact portion 40 which are provided at the front end portions in the extending direction of the front side elastic contact pieces 27a, 27b and the rear side elastic contact piece 29 and project most to the center side of the main body portion 14 are independently displaced. The upper surface of the pair of embosses 42, 42 projecting from the side wall 22 b serving as the bottom plate is press-contacted from the upper side in the plate thickness direction of the flat tab 20. It comes to be pressed from below.

  Further, a flat barrel portion 16 is provided in a deployed state behind the side wall 22b that hits the bottom plate, and a plurality of protrusions 60, 60 extending in parallel with each other protrude upward. And a pair of core wire crimping parts 62 and 62 are formed by bending both sides in the width direction of the barrel part 16 on the flat plate upward.

  The covered electric wire 64 is crimped to the rear end side of the female terminal 10 of the present embodiment having such a structure. In order to crimp the coated electric wire 64, the insulation coating 66 on the distal end side of the coated electric wire 64 is peeled to expose the core wire 68, and the distal end portion of the coated electric wire 64 where the core wire 68 is exposed is used as the barrel portion 16 of the female terminal 10. Is placed on the upper surface of the ridge 60. Under such a condition, the barrel portion 16 including the core wire crimping portions 62 and 62 is plastically deformed by performing crimping processing on the core wire crimping portions 62 and 62 using a known crimping device, and the core wire It is crimped so that 68 is wrapped from the outer peripheral surface.

  Such a female terminal 10 can be connected to a male terminal 18. As shown in FIG. 7A and FIG. 8A, the flat tab 20 of the male terminal 18 has a rear elastic contact piece 29 provided on the side wall 22a above the opening 12 on the front surface of the main body 14. Is inserted while being deformed. First, the flat tab 20 has a contact portion 40 of the rear elastic contact piece 29 pressed against the upper portion of the middle portion in the plate width direction, and a pair of embosses 42, 42 disposed at the lower portions of both ends of the plate width direction. Is elastically sandwiched between the two and connection is achieved. Next, as shown in FIG. 7B and FIG. 8B, when the flat tab 20 is further inserted, in addition to the connection between the contact portion 40 and the emboss 42, the plate of the flat tab 20 A pair of front elastic contact pieces 27a, 27b that are press-contacted to both upper portions in the width direction is elastically sandwiched between the contact portions 38a, 38b and the emboss 42 so as to be connected.

  As described above, the support points of the flat tabs 20 by the elastic contact pieces can be provided separately on both sides in the width direction by the contact portions 38a and 38b of the pair of front side elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b. The portions 38a and 38b and the contact portion 40 of the rear elastic contact piece 29 can be provided so as to be largely separated in the front-rear direction. Thereby, the twisting displacement of the flat tab 20 in the vertical direction or the twist direction can be more advantageously prevented. In addition, since the contact portions 38a and 38b and the contact portion 40 are provided at the distal end portion in the extending direction, the spring force of the front side elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b and the rear side elastic contact piece 29 is largely ensured, Even when the flat tab 20 of the terminal 18 is largely displaced in the vertical direction, it is possible to flexibly follow the displacement to prevent the occurrence of contact failure, and to disperse the insertion force of the flat tab 20. As shown, the insertion force of the flat tab 20 increases step by step, thereby reducing the insertion force felt by the operator and realizing smooth mounting.

  In the present invention, since the flat tab 20 of the male terminal 18 is supported by the emboss 42, the insertion force is dispersed while the elastic contact pieces provided at a large distance in the front-rear direction are used. An increase in the size of the terminal 10 itself can be avoided. Further, since the rear elastic contact piece 29 enters and extends into the cutout portion 30 that is a separation gap between the pair of front elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b, the main body portion 14 is also downsized.

  In addition, since the base ends of the front elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b are connected, the rigidity and durability of the front elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b can be improved.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention has been described, this invention is not limited at all by the specific description in this embodiment. For example, a plurality of front-side elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b that press-contact both sides of the flat tab 20 or a plurality of rear-side elastic contact pieces 29 that press-contact an intermediate portion in the plate thickness direction of the flat tab 20 may be provided. Then, a plurality of front side elastic contact pieces and rear side elastic contact pieces may be provided, and the respective contact portions may be arranged in a dust shape. The shape of the elastic contact piece, the number of contact portions, and the like can be appropriately set according to the required pressure contact force.

  In addition, the front elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b and the rear elastic contact piece 29 have substantially the same width, but the front elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b have the same width as that of the rear elastic contact piece 29. You may form larger than a width dimension. As a result, the pair of front-side elastic contact pieces 27a and 27b that press-contact both sides of the flat tab 20 can be widened, so that a larger pressing force can be exerted. Thereby, the displacement of the flat tab 20 in the twisting direction can be more advantageously prevented, and the problem of poor contact due to misalignment can be advantageously prevented.

10: Female terminal, 12: Opening part, 14: Body part, 18: Male terminal, 20: Flat tab, 22ab: Side wall, 26: Flat part, 27ab: Front elastic contact piece, 29: Rear elastic contact piece 30: Notch, 32: Notch, 38ab: Contact, 40: Contact, 42: Emboss

Claims (2)

Provided with a box-shaped main body having an opening at the front end, provided on one of a pair of opposing side walls constituting the main body, and on the other of the pair of side walls In the female terminal that is configured so that the flat tab of the male terminal inserted from the opening is sandwiched between the embossing,
Front side of the resilient contact piece, wherein it is resiliently deformable by extending from the front and folded portions provided at the rear end, each cantilevered inwardly of one of the side walls opposing direction of the pair of side walls It is constituted by an elastic contact piece and a rear side elastic contact piece,
While the contact portion of the front elastic contact piece is located on the rear side in the front-rear direction of the main body portion with respect to the contact portion of the rear elastic contact piece, the contact portion of the front elastic contact piece The contact portions of the rear elastic contact pieces are separated from each other in the width direction of the main body portion ;
A pair of the front elastic contact pieces are provided apart from each other in the width direction of the main body portion, while the rear elastic contact pieces extend into the separation gap between the pair of front elastic contact pieces. The contact portion is provided at the distal end portion of each elastic contact piece in the extending direction,
The female terminal, wherein a width dimension of the front elastic contact piece is larger than a width dimension of the rear elastic contact piece . And notch is provided at an intermediate portion of the wide flat portion to be folded inwardly curved from the front end of the front Stories body portion, notch portion mutually independently movably shed of said plate by While the pair of front elastic contact pieces are constituted by the side edge portions, notches are provided on both side portions of the wide flat plate portion bent from the rear end of the main body portion and folded inward. and which, by the central portion of said plate sandwiched between the cutout portion, the female terminal according to claim 1, wherein the rear-side resilient contact piece is formed.

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